Romelu Lukaku aimed goalscoring celebration at 'irritating' Greece fans

Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku has revealed that he got his own back on the Greece fans through his goal celebration in Sunday's World Cup qualifier.


The 24-year-old struck the winning goal in the 2-1 triumph over Greeks as Roberto Martinez's side became the first nation from Europe to guarantee their place in next summer's finals in Russia.

The Piraeus crowd were overwhelmed with Greece's equaliser in the crunch World Cup qualifier but they were silenced just 60 seconds later as Lukaku notched the third goal of the night. The Greece faithful had irritated Lukaku by flashing laser light in his eyes, but he took his revenge with a fine finish 16 minutes from time.

Lukaku followed with a celebration with his hands cupped behind his ears as Belgium were assured of finishing at the top of Group H. Speaking after the game, he said: "I did it because the crowd had also been irritating me. I got lasers shone in my eyes, but I expected that. There is nothing better in football than to win a game in those conditions

The Belgian had made a bright start to his Manchester United career with three goals in as many games, and he will be tipped to spearhead the attack which will be supported by the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Dries Mertens.

Belgium are deemed as one of the favourites for the tournament following his dark-horse tag in the last World Cup, but Lukaku is not getting carried away with their last success, he added: "Let's stop talking about the World Cup until June. We're going to try to achieve the highest possible level with our clubs so that we can be ready. It's better to celebrate this qualification modestly rather than in a euphoric way, as if we were world champions.”